The Department of State released the March 2023 visa bulletin. The visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas both for consular processing and adjustment of status applications to be filed in March 2023. The State Department releases both the Final Action Dates and Application Filing Dates for Employment-Based and Family-Based immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirms which chart Applicants must use to file their Adjustment of Status Application (AOS). Below, we break down the movement seen in the March 2023 visa bulletin.

Employment-Based Cases

There was little movement for Employment-Based cases in this month’s visa bulletin. The only Employment-Based preference categories that showed any forward movement in March 2023 were EB-3 EW China and EB-5 Unreserved China. There was some retrogression in the EB-4 category, as well as in EB-5 Unreserved India.

For the EB-1 preference category, all areas except China and India remain current. Indian and Chinese EB-1 Applicants continue to be subject to the Final Action Date of February 1, 2022, and the Application Filing Date of June 1, 2022.

There was still no movement in the Final Action Dates for the EB-2 category. The State Department kept the Final Action Date for EB-2 applicants from all countries of chargeability as November 1, 2022, except for India and China. For EB-2 India, the date remained at October 8, 2011, and EB-2 China at June 8, 2019. The Application Filing Dates were also unchanged with EB-2 India at May 1, 2012, and EB-2 China at July 8, 2019.

The EB-3 Professional/ Skilled Worker category remained Current in across all areas of chargeability, except for India and China. The Final Action Date for EB-3 India remained at June 15, 2012, and EB-3 China at August 1, 2018. The Application Filing Dates are still August 1, 2012, for EB-3 India and September 1, 2018, for EB-3 China.

The State Department did note that it is seeing increased demand in the EB-3 category which might require it to establish a worldwide cutoff date in the upcoming months to keep visa number use within the annual limit.

The Final Action Date for the employment-based third preference “Other Workers” category (EB-3 EW) China advanced slightly in March 2023, going from December 22, 2013, to July 1, 2014. The other countries’ Final Action Dates in EB-3 EW remained unchanged, with India staying at June 15, 2012, and the rest of the world at January 1, 2020.

While the Final Action Date in the EB-4 category was unchanged for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, at March 15, 2018; there was retrogression for all other countries. EB-4 India retrogressed from June 22, 2022, to March 1, 2021. EB-4 Mexico also retrogressed, from September 15, 2020, to August 1, 2020. The Final Action Date for all other areas of chargeability in the EB-4 category retrogressed from June 22, 2022, to February 1, 2022.

For the EB-5 Unreserved* China category, the Final Action Date advanced slightly, going from March 22, 2015, to July 8, 2015. Meanwhile, the Final Action Date for EB-5 Unreserved India retrogressed, moving back to June 1, 2018, from the November 8, 2019 cutoff date we saw last month. The rest of the EB-5 categories and countries remained current in the Final Action Dates chart.

* The EB-5 Unreserved category refers to the EB-5 visa numbers that are not set aside for immigrants investing in rural, high employment-areas, and infrastructure projects.

 

Family-Based Cases

There was no movement in the Final Action Dates chart nor the Application Filing Dates chart for Family-Sponsored cases in March 2023.

Notably, the F2A category remained Current in across all areas of chargeability in March 2023, despite the State Department’s warning in February 2023 that they might have to establish a final action date this month to keep visa number use within the annual limit.

We continue to monitor and report predictions and movements related to the monthly visa bulletin. If you have questions regarding your priority date, please feel free to contact us. We put our extensive experience and expertise to work for you to ensure you get the right advice.

March 2023 Visa Bulletin Visa Bulletin